Project Supervisor(s): Dr J Hancock , Dr A M Mallon
Application Deadline: 31 March 2005

DESCRIPTION:
Beyond the Gene Ontology: ontologies for phenotypes
With the advent of completely sequenced genomes and functional genomics technologies, such as microarray gene expression technology, biology is entering a new phase in which we need to access and interpret large volumes of information. For the maximum use to be made of this information by both laboratory scientists and bioinformaticians it is important that the community as a whole develops standard ways of annotating data using generally accepted terminology. The Gene Ontology was the first such naming system to be broadly accepted by biologists and provides standard terms for annotating genes within genomes (Gene Ontology Consortium, 2000). At Harwell we are interested in linking information on genes and genomes to the phenotypes of mice. To do this we have been developing ways to use ontologies to represent phenotypes (Gkoutos et al, 2004 a,b). The project will involve contributing to our effort to build on our work on phenotype ontologies to ensure that we can represent all the phenotypes emerging from the Harwell mutagenesis screen and link these phenotypes to other sources of data to facilitate deeper analysis of the link between genotype and phenotype.

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The MRC Mammalian Genetics Unit at Harwell is a multidisciplinary campus for mouse genetics research with a wide array of programmes and support facilities in developmental genetics, neurobiology, hormonal and metabolic disease, pathology, functional genomics, informatics and computational biology. A central theme to the Unit?s studies is the use of genome-wide mutagenesis and diverse phenotyping platforms for the study of mouse biology.

The Unit?s facilities have recently been augmented by the completion of a new state-of-the-art mouse facility and clinic ? the Mary Lyon Centre. MRC Harwell offers first class opportunities for students, a four year MRC studentship with the first year as a rotation between different laboratories, a formal training programme and registration in Oxford or other collaborating universities. The Unit also forms part of the wider Oxford community.

HOW TO APPLY

Please apply by full CV with the names of two academic referees, to Personnel, Medical Research Council, Harwell, Didcot, Oxfordshire, OX11 ORD. Tel: 01235 841069.

REFERENCES

The Gene Ontology Consortium: Gene Ontology: tool for the unification of biology. Nature Genetics 2000, 25: 25-29.

Gkoutos, G.V., Green, E.C.J., Mallon, A.-M., Hancock, J.M. & Davidson, D. (2004a) Using ontologies to describe mouse phenotypes. Genome Biol. 6: R8

Gkoutos, G.V., Green, E.C.J., Mallon, A.-M., Hancock, J.M. & Davidson, D. (2004b) Ontologies for the description of mouse phenotypes. Comp. Funct. Genomics 5 (6-7): 545-551.

Mammalian Genetics Unit
MRC Harwell
Medical Research Council,
Harwell,
Didcot,
Oxfordshire,
OX11 ORD
Telephone: +44(0)1235 834 393 Fax: +44(0)1235 834 776
Department Head: Professor Steve Brown
Application Enquiries to: Personnel Office